Rookie needs reassuring (or big time help!)

[Miss Otis]

I live for football season but this is my first plunge into a FFL. I have already had my draft, and just by reading your forums I realize I made a few mistakes. But I still feel I have a pretty OK team, or am I looking through rose colored glasses.

QB--Dilfer, Plummer
RB--S. Alexander, Hearst, Barlow
WR--T. Holt, W. Jackson, Q. Ismail
TE--E. Johnson, D. Carswell
K--Janikowski, Feely
D--Dolphins, Chargers

I released Schroeder for Ismail, Seder for Feely, J. Allen for Barlow, and Brady for Carswell.

So, to you experts I ask, am I going to be last in my league (12 team). Got any advice.

[Ned]

You are definitely weak at QB, but pretty strong at RB and WR. How many teams are in your league? Depending on how deep the talent pool is for the rest of the league, I would say that your strength at RB and WR could keep you out of the cellar, but with your QBs and TEs I wouldn't expect to be above the middle of the pack, which isn't too bad in your first season (at least that's what I keep telling myself in my fantasy baseball league!).

[DraftDodger]

Okay, you survived the draft with some decent guys.

QB--Dilfer, Plummer
RB--S. Alexander, Hearst, Barlow
WR--T. Holt, W. Jackson, Q. Ismail
TE--E. Johnson, D. Carswell
K--Janikowski, Feely
D--Dolphins, Chargers

Your lineup suggests that you're probably in the nfl.com leagues. Wherever you are, look at your roster rules. You should be able to keep what you want for backups as long as you maintain a starting squad. This said, you can dump a kicker for sure. Probably a tight end too. Dilfer worries me this season, but if you want to hang onto him and see if things swing back his way, that's kewl.

Anyway, the reason to shed the excess baggage is so that you can grab some of that young blood that didn't get drafted. Guys like QB David Carr, RBs DeShaun Foster and T.J. Duckett, WR Deion Branch, etc. are probably all sitting in the free agent pool. Any of these guys is potentially worth more to you than a 2nd string kicker, injured player, or some veteran ranked 40th who has never put up decent points. Some of these guys may take a while to develop, some may go nowhere this season ... but if you get just one excellent player out of the bunch you could be looking pretty good by mid-season.

Fantasy football is practically a head to head match up between each of your starters and each of the opposing starters. The better each of your guys match up ... your #1 RB to their #1 RB, etc., the better your team will perform. Alexander, Holt, Johnson, Janikowski, and the Dolphins should all match up well against the opponents guys. You need to be concerned with your QB (Plummer isn't horrible; if it's ever gonna be "his year" this may be it), 1 RB, and 1 WR. Check out that free agent pool, look at backups who have become starters, and rookies who are all ready busting moves in pre-season, and add some depth at those crucial positions.

If you are going to keep Dilfer, I would pick up Hasselbeck (or whoever is declared the "backup") in a heartbeat.

Look at people's "sleeper picks", decide which ones you agree with, see if any of them are in the free agent pool. 14-man rosters leave alot of good talent floating around. You need to scoop some of it. Try to do this mainly through the leftover players. If you are inexperienced, trading can do you more harm than good. If you DO want to play with trading, YOU propose the trades. You might want to make someone a trade offer they "can't refuse", like 3 or 4 of the guys you're gonna dump anyways for 1 solid RB or WR. I think one good WR would put you above average. If you could then pull someone like Foster out've the free agent pool and have them perform well, you could be in contention. Good luck!

[Arlo]

Good advice so far. As DraftDodger says, a lot depends on your league's rules. If, for instance, your league gives six points for a passing td, you should probably pull out all the stops and either try to trade for a proven qb or add more depth at that position, hoping one of your guys will produce and trying to exploit weekly matchups. If you are in a head-to-head league with playoffs, I'd probably try to pick up a qb/wr combination from the same team, perhaps even trying to trade Alexander plus one of your qb's for Warner plus a lesser rb (the reasoning behind this being that such a combo often gives you the best chance of defeating 'better' teams).

At any rate: no, I don't think you'll be competing for last. The key to your season will be whether you can find one or two solid free agents to give you an additional boost. A good pickup or two and decent production at qb, and I think you'll be in the hunt!